CSXT Team flying a rocket to space was hard enough, but it turns out recovery of the nose cone/payload section and the booster was challenging also. The nose cone/payload section had radio trackers attached, which should have made recovery easy, but the problem in the mountains was that the signals were bouncing off the mountains and hills and provided false leads. After analysis by Jerry Larson and team members of the possible location, the CSXT team had an idea of approximately where it should be. The CSXT team dispersed in the general area of possible location and the nose cone/payload section was found by Ky Michaelson’s friend Bradley Cooper the day after the launch. After Bradley found it, he didn’t have a radio, he was waving his arms and calling out to the other teams to his location. Eventually all teams made it to the recovery site.
The CSXT booster was another story and would not be found until November 17, 2004, by the BLM (Bureau of Land Management) and finally recovered on November 26, 2004. The nose cone/payload section was the main focus since it had all of the electronics to verify the flight and altitude. The nose cone/payload section had a substantial, heavy duty, Rocketman Parachutes, parachute. It was designed to bring back the nose cone/payload section quick enough to keep it close the launch area, but slow enough that if it landed on a rock on the ground the electronics would survive. That part worked great.
The booster section was basically the rockets motor; the fin can and the payload section attachment and separation ring. It was important to recover the booster for analysis and historical purposes. It had a super strong, but small, Rocketman Parachutes ballistic parachute. Since the booster section was heavy, even though the hundreds of pounds of rocket fuel had burned away, it came back in fast and we expected/planned on it having sustained some damage on landing. As it turned out the damage on landing was that the fin can came loose and was at the other end of the booster section upon landing and the first two and one half feet of the top of the motor case was destroyed.
Because of the difference in the weights and parachute sizes, the descent rates would be different and the landing points would also be different. We knew that and that it would be a 2-pronged approach to recovery of each. The electronics were critical and that was the primary focus post launch. After the nose cone/payload section was found, the electronics were analyzed that night and preliminary indication from the electronics was that we made space, and not just the Karmen Line, but 72 miles up.
The booster section also had radio trackers that were attached to the booster’s parachute. The parachute deployed, according to the data we had, but apparently as the booster travelled through the boundary of space and earth’s atmosphere, the parachute was damaged. The boundary layer is a turbulent zone of the atmosphere for re-entry and because we heard 2 sonic booms, one for the nose cone/payload section and the other for the booster, meant the booster was re-entering at over Mach and the combination probably damaged the parachute that held the radio trackers.
CSXT Flight Recovery Systems Timing:
L+240 (Launch time plus 240 seconds): over 250,000 feet altitude signals were sent by main computers for vehicle separation. Both parachutes were determined to have deployed nominally.
160,000 feet altitude: nose cone/payload section and booster are continuing deceleration from peak of 5.5g’s
110,000 feet altitude: nose cone/payload section and booster section become sub sonic and both parachutes are determined to be deployed.
L+850: nose cone/payload section impacted the mountainside at 62 mph nose first. Landing point approximately 20 miles from launch site.
Booster Section: analysis suggests that at 50,000 feet altitude, the parachute system fails. The booster section is now 211 pounds with fuel burned off. Booster section impacts ground with terminal velocity of 511mph.
My impression is that coming through the boundary layer at high speed and subsequent Mach + reentry damages parachute system until it finally fails at 50,000 feet altitude. That is Jet Stream altitude and the parachute and radio trackers drift off to who knows where. Later, based on the analysis of the data recovered, Jerry Larson was able to identify the general area of where the booster landed. The nose cone/payload section landed just in the edge of the Granite Mountain range, while the booster landed just east of the mountains in the rolling hills.
The nose cone/payload section was found the day after the launch. Without radio location beacons on the booster section, we were unsure of where to look for the booster. With the trackers gone, the booster location was going to be a mystery.
We assumed finding everything would be easy, it wasn’t. People had pre-arranged flights home and the decision was made to cancel looking for the booster section for now, since we didn’t where it was. CSXT team would do further analysis based on all of the data acquired to try to better determine the location of the booster. We would continue the search after solid analysis of the data. Since we didn’t know where the booster was , continuing the search at this time was looking for a very small needle in a very large haystack.
Search attempts were made in the subsequent months to no avail. Jerry’s data analysis suggested where the best estimate of it location was.
FALSE ALARM – We thought we saw it, we thought we saw it (edited for clarity ….)
From: Larson, Jerry
Sent: Tuesday, August 17, 2004 10:37 AM
To: Samuelson, Ken
Subject: Possible Booster Sighting
Hi Ken,
…. enjoyed the plane ride. Although we didn't find it while we were there, I was going through the photos I took yesterday on the plane ride home and spotted this object on the South West side of Red Mountain. A closer look, it appears to be an unnatural object that is about 1/2 mile from where the booster should have been. I never saw this object as we flew over the area, I think my eyes were drawn to the bright white mineral deposits just below. Could you possibly do a fly over of this spot and take some closer digital images of the area? This looks so close to what we’re looking for its got me (and most of the team) believing today that its the crash
site we’re looking for.
The coordinates of the spot are: 40 degrees 56.28' N 119 degrees 27.41' W
From: Samuelson, Ken
Sent: Tuesday, August 17, 2004 11:51 AM
To: Larson, Jerry
Subject: RE: Possible Booster Sighting
Jerry,
…. The pictures are exciting and look promising. I will schedule a fly over and take additional pictures
today or tomorrow, depending on thermals. Hope this is it.... I will let you know.
Ken
From: Samuelson, Ken
Sent: Wednesday, August 18, 2004 11:18 AM
To: Larson, Jerry
Subject: RE: Possible Booster Sighting
Jerry,
…. I flew the Red Mountain area and photographed the possible booster location. We took digital photos with a 600mm telephoto lens at 5.5 Mega pixels in Nikon .nef (raw) format
…. It seems clear in the digital screen on the camera, however, that what could be the booster is actually a white rock outcropping.
Ken
From: Larson, Jerry
Sent: Wednesday, August 18, 2004 10:27 AM
To: Samuelson, Ken
Subject: RE: Possible Booster Sighting
Ken, I think you may be right, we found a USGS photo of the same location taken in 1994 with what looks like the same object in it. Some of the guys have been estimating the size as well and determined it’s too big to be the booster. It sure looked like it in the photo though. Looking forward to seeing your zoomed in image to put this one to bed.
Jerry
From: Larson, Jerry
Sent: Thursday, August 19, 2004 3:42 PM
Subject: FW: Possible Booster Sighting
NOT the GoFast booster.
Sorry everyone, false alarm. Ken Samuelson went up in the plane yesterday and photographed close ups of the booster sighting. Clearly not what we’re looking for.
…. Keep looking, it’s out there.
Jerry "everything looks like a booster" Larson
With Jerry's rebuild the flight profile and with the audio recordings analysis, it was time to find the booster section. Jerry laid out most likely area of the booster landing area which was good, but still a little large, it was time to search for it for real. The search dates of August 14 and 15, 2004 were chosen and a number of people volunteered to conduct the search.
Ky Michaelson, Tony Cochran and Bruce Lee had been in the area before. During previous launch attempts, when we had a bad weather day after a launch scrub, we would go exploring in the surrounding areas. There were lots of interesting things to see in and around the Black Rock desert. We were familiar generally with the booster landing area and knew the roads leading to the closest point to recover the booster.
We lead the search party to what was the closest point by vehicle, created a mini base camp and gathered the troops for the search. Everyone went out in slightly different directions from base camp, while Ky and I stayed back at base camp. Ky suffered from various injuries sustained from racing incidents and I was still recovering from Achilles tendon surgery, so long treks were out for us and we ran base camp. We were excited to get looking for the booster, left early morning and forgot to bring food with us. We had some 2-day old fast food in the car and ate that. Ky was ok, whereas I had to throw away my underwear behind a big rock at base camp.
We had limited radio communications with the search teams as they got behind hills and too far away for our equipment to reach. The search went on all day with the teams drifting back in the late afternoon. No luck finding the booster. Turns out we were pretty close. Though we didn’t know it at the time, Steve McMacken was a mile away from the actual landing point. He was an experienced backpacker in great shape and way out travelled everyone else and searched alone since no one could keep up with him.
We didn't find the booster section. We headed back in to Gerlach to thankfully get some real food at Bruno’s. We were starving and the search teams as well due to the long treks. We had a CSXT team meeting at Bruno’s to discuss our search results. Plans for more searching in uncovered areas were discussed and the teams headed out the next day. Those searches also proved fruitless and everyone left unsatisfied.
Then came the famous call from the BLM. The BLM was doing a wild horse survey by helicopter and saw an anomalous tube shape item in the hills near where we had been searching.
Message to Jerry from BLM:
From: XXXX@XXblm.gov
Sent: Wednesday, November 17, 2004 9:38 AM
Subject: Re: [CSXT] Re: CSXT rocket sighted from helicopter
I talked to XXXX this morning: Essentially, take the report of the rocket being about 6 ft long as a very loose estimation. It was made at about 100 ft above the ground, and XXXX really had nothing to gauge it
to. XXXX also said that it was laying flat on a slope with low sage. I asked XXXX if there was a canopy visible, and XXXX didn't think so. But remember, they were up there looking for horses and, on a schedule, – so no more time was spent at the rocket site then what it took to GPS it. I passed your 'thank you' on to the crew, and they appreciated that. They were genuinely excited about having played a small part in that historic flight. If you guys are considering a rescue effort, please keep me informed. I would love to go! XXXXX
Jerry contacts Ken Samuelson, CSXT airplane surveillance:
From: Samuelson, Ken
Sent: Wednesday, November 17, 2004 5:05 PM
To: Larson, Jerry
Subject: RE: [CSXT] Re: CSXT rocket sighted from helicopter
Jerry,
Eureka!!!!! It is definitely the rocket. I will take pictures home
tonight to download. You will be impressed. From the air it seems to
be fully intact with no parachute attached. I am anxious to download
on software at home. Feel free to call if you have any questions.
Then planning started (edited for clarity ….):
On Mon, Nov 15, 2004 at 02:40:41PM -0700, Larson, Jerry L wrote:
> This location is practically on the line I predicted it should be and is about half
> way between where the ground crew parked on that Sunday and where the
> payload section was found.
Yeah, amazing how close your estimate was, considering all the variables. We were looking in the right area.
> See the attached map. Minor correction for the map: The label that says "Hy 447" is actually
the unpaved Crutcher Canyon Road, a power-line maintenance road.
….
> I think the ground crew was about 1/2 way and to the North of this
Area on Sunday before we called off our search.
…. Steve McMacken was the one who got within 1.5 miles of this site.
…. What's possible for recovery this time of year?
…. Then hope for good weather - but that is never guaranteed this
time of year.
…. It depends if the power line maintenance road is accessible to 4x4s. If
we can get as far up Crutcher Canyon as we did in August, then it's a
2.5 mile hike from there to the booster. At 6350', snow could fall in
any storm but shouldn't stay long since this is a south-facing slope. So
we can't do it when there's been recent heavy rains.
GoFast Team Message from Jerry Larson:
From: Larson, Jerry L
Sent: Wednesday, November 17, 2004 11:27 PM
To: …...
GoFast Rocket Team:
See Ken Samuelson's email below from today's fly over of the GoFast booster.
I spoke with Ken this evening and he said at least three of the fins are attached and the forth may have come off on impact. He also saw what looked to be the depression it made when it hit and the booster laying on its side resting on one fin. Ken also got pictures and he will email them to us in the morning from his work computer.
The Recovery Plan:
A small group …. are heading up this weekend to get some close up photos and scope out the roads and access points. We should have some detailed photos and info by Sunday.
Thanksgiving weekend CSXT …. will hike up to bring out the 200+ pound booster. Depending on the conditions of the 4x4 roads the hike in could be as far as 4 miles. So be prepared for the event to take all day in some fairly cold weather. The plan is to travel Friday November 26th, pack the booster out Saturday November 27th and use Sunday the 28th as a back up day.
This is short notice I know …., Ky and I all feel the weather could get us the later we wait and will have the most support on that weekend to help pack the booster out. Please let me know by email if you can make it so I can have an accurate head count for CSXT.
Hope to see you there.
Jerry
Time to Recover the Booster Section before weather sets in:
On November 20, 2004 Jay Lawsom lead a team of 3 to get actual eyes on the booster and landing site. In the next 6 days the rain and snow came in hard and the dirt roads were close to impassable. It looked there was going to be only one good day left before even more snow was due to arrive in the landing area.
On November 26, 2004; multiple teams set out with 4x4’s to recover the rocket. When the recovery crew arrived at the recovery site, CSXT members Ken Samuelson and Jim Hoffman were able to watch the rescue from Ken’s plane overhead. The recovery team, in addition to retrieving the booster section, picked up broken fragments of the booster section and even used metal detectors to find additional pieces under the snow. The recovery site was back to pristine native condition.
The booster section, which originally was 15 feet long, was now 12.5 feet long. The front end was severely damaged, but the rest of the booster section was in amazingly good condition. The fin can did break free from its attachment at the nozzle end and was now at the front end. At 5:30PM the recovery team left with the booster section in darkness and made it back to Gerlach at 7:30PM.
The booster section was unloaded and stored inside. When the teams woke up on Saturday morning, there were 2 more inches of snow on the ground and clearly if the recovery did not happen when it did, recovery would have had to wait until better weather in the spring of the next year. The booster section was loaded up and taken out of Gerlach. CSXT team member Bruce Lee drove from Omaha Nebraska to the pick-up location and brought the booster section home and then drove it to Minneapolis to Ky’s location.
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